This week, Tamsen Webster finds the Red Thread in a TED talk by Brian Little: “Who Are You Really? The Puzzle of Personality.” The presence of the Red Thread is often the difference between a good talk and a great one.

Watch the video for yourself first, and see if you can pick out the first four elements: the goal, the problem, the idea, and the change. Little doesn’t get into step five, the action, but that’s because he’s so focused on laying out a compelling case for a big idea and a surprising path to change.

See if you can pick out the elements for yourself, and then you can compare how Tamsen breaks it down to learn how to make the Red Thread work for you.

Get more tips and tricks on finding the Red Thread at tamsenwebster.com.